Contrary to traditional belief, Protestant tradition offers precedent for the contextual readings of Scripture that liberationists encourage. In re‐interpreting the Bible, the Reformers read the ...
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Contrary to traditional belief, Protestant tradition offers precedent for the contextual readings of Scripture that liberationists encourage. In re‐interpreting the Bible, the Reformers read the Bible theologically and contextually, taking into account the socio‐historical contexts of their respective faith communities. Each reformer thought the Word of God was something more dynamic than adherence to the literal words of the Bible, employing such critical interpretive norms as Christ's Incarnation or revelation (Luther and Wesley) or God's will for humanity (Wesley). For the Reformers, the Bible becomes the Word of God where the gospel is proclaimed in preaching and teaching (Luther and Calvin) and where the gospel demands and permits ever‐more‐exact moral fulfillment of the law (Wesley). Despite the Reformers' “mixed legacy” on women, the poor, and people of color, their ways of interpreting the Bible offer a basis for contextual readings today.Less

The Protestant Reformers and Inclusive Biblical Interpretation

Cheryl B. Anderson

Published in print: 2009-10-01

Contrary to traditional belief, Protestant tradition offers precedent for the contextual readings of Scripture that liberationists encourage. In re‐interpreting the Bible, the Reformers read the Bible theologically and contextually, taking into account the socio‐historical contexts of their respective faith communities. Each reformer thought the Word of God was something more dynamic than adherence to the literal words of the Bible, employing such critical interpretive norms as Christ's Incarnation or revelation (Luther and Wesley) or God's will for humanity (Wesley). For the Reformers, the Bible becomes the Word of God where the gospel is proclaimed in preaching and teaching (Luther and Calvin) and where the gospel demands and permits ever‐more‐exact moral fulfillment of the law (Wesley). Despite the Reformers' “mixed legacy” on women, the poor, and people of color, their ways of interpreting the Bible offer a basis for contextual readings today.

Focusing on the intersection of Christianity and politics in the American penitentiary system, this book explores evangelical Protestants' efforts to make religion central to emerging practices and ...
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Focusing on the intersection of Christianity and politics in the American penitentiary system, this book explores evangelical Protestants' efforts to make religion central to emerging practices and philosophies of prison discipline from the 1790s through the 1850s. Initially, state and prison officials welcomed Protestant reformers' and ministers' recommendations, particularly their ideas about inmate suffering and redemption. Over time, however, officials proved less receptive to the reformers' activities, and inmates also opposed them. Ensuing debates between reformers, officials, and inmates revealed deep disagreements over religion's place in prisons and in the wider public sphere as the separation of church and state took hold and the nation's religious environment became more diverse and competitive. Examining the innovative New York prison system, the author shows how Protestant reformers failed to realize their dreams of large-scale inmate conversion or of prisons that reflected their values. To keep a foothold in prisons, reformers were forced to relinquish their Protestant terminology and practices and instead to adopt secular ideas about American morals, virtues, and citizenship. The author argues that, by revising their original understanding of prisoner suffering and redemption, reformers learned to see inmates' afflictions not as a necessary prelude to a sinner's experience of grace but as the required punishment for breaking the new nation's laws.Less

The Furnace of Affliction : Prisons and Religion in Antebellum America

Jennifer Graber

Published in print: 2011-03-14

Focusing on the intersection of Christianity and politics in the American penitentiary system, this book explores evangelical Protestants' efforts to make religion central to emerging practices and philosophies of prison discipline from the 1790s through the 1850s. Initially, state and prison officials welcomed Protestant reformers' and ministers' recommendations, particularly their ideas about inmate suffering and redemption. Over time, however, officials proved less receptive to the reformers' activities, and inmates also opposed them. Ensuing debates between reformers, officials, and inmates revealed deep disagreements over religion's place in prisons and in the wider public sphere as the separation of church and state took hold and the nation's religious environment became more diverse and competitive. Examining the innovative New York prison system, the author shows how Protestant reformers failed to realize their dreams of large-scale inmate conversion or of prisons that reflected their values. To keep a foothold in prisons, reformers were forced to relinquish their Protestant terminology and practices and instead to adopt secular ideas about American morals, virtues, and citizenship. The author argues that, by revising their original understanding of prisoner suffering and redemption, reformers learned to see inmates' afflictions not as a necessary prelude to a sinner's experience of grace but as the required punishment for breaking the new nation's laws.

This chapter focuses on Skelton's reception during the century after his death. Taking as its starting-point Skelton's divided reputation in the late 16th century, when he is referred to both as a ...
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This chapter focuses on Skelton's reception during the century after his death. Taking as its starting-point Skelton's divided reputation in the late 16th century, when he is referred to both as a proto-Protestant reformer and as an irreverent figure of a lost merry England, the chapter demonstrates that such apparently conflicting views in fact have more in common than might be expected. Skelton's influence is most immediately obvious in the writing of Protestant Reformers such as Luke Shepherd, Robert Crowley, and the anonymous authors of treatises such as The Ymage of Ypocresy (1534) and Vox Populi Vox Dei (1547). The Skeltonic form comes to be so closely associated with anti-Catholic abuse that Skelton himself is treated as part of the Reforming tradition. This occurs not only in Spenser's Shepheardes Calendar but, more unexpectedly, in works such as Anthony Munday's Downfall of Robert Earl of Huntingdon r (1599) and Ben Jonson's rFortunate Isles r (1624), which seem initially to present Skelton merely as a jester or entertainer.Less

Rewriting the Record: Skelton's Posthumous Reputation

Jane Griffiths

Published in print: 2006-02-23

This chapter focuses on Skelton's reception during the century after his death. Taking as its starting-point Skelton's divided reputation in the late 16th century, when he is referred to both as a proto-Protestant reformer and as an irreverent figure of a lost merry England, the chapter demonstrates that such apparently conflicting views in fact have more in common than might be expected. Skelton's influence is most immediately obvious in the writing of Protestant Reformers such as Luke Shepherd, Robert Crowley, and the anonymous authors of treatises such as The Ymage of Ypocresy (1534) and Vox Populi Vox Dei (1547). The Skeltonic form comes to be so closely associated with anti-Catholic abuse that Skelton himself is treated as part of the Reforming tradition. This occurs not only in Spenser's Shepheardes Calendar but, more unexpectedly, in works such as Anthony Munday's Downfall of Robert Earl of Huntingdon r (1599) and Ben Jonson's rFortunate Isles r (1624), which seem initially to present Skelton merely as a jester or entertainer.

The Protestant Reformers rejected the medieval scholastic theology in favour of a truly biblical one. In repudiating the speculations of the schoolmen they laid the foundations of a theology which, ...
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The Protestant Reformers rejected the medieval scholastic theology in favour of a truly biblical one. In repudiating the speculations of the schoolmen they laid the foundations of a theology which, in both method and content, regarded the perspicuity of Scripture as axiomatic. In particular, the reformers shunned the kind of synthesis of divine revelation and human philospohy evident in the scholasticism of Thomas Aquinas. This chapter shows that Aristotle was the villain of the piece; no longer were the opinions of ‘the philosopher’ to be placed beside the authoritative utterances of ‘the apostle’.Less

The Legacy of Aristotle

Alan C. Clifford

Published in print: 1990-04-26

The Protestant Reformers rejected the medieval scholastic theology in favour of a truly biblical one. In repudiating the speculations of the schoolmen they laid the foundations of a theology which, in both method and content, regarded the perspicuity of Scripture as axiomatic. In particular, the reformers shunned the kind of synthesis of divine revelation and human philospohy evident in the scholasticism of Thomas Aquinas. This chapter shows that Aristotle was the villain of the piece; no longer were the opinions of ‘the philosopher’ to be placed beside the authoritative utterances of ‘the apostle’.

This chapter recounts the history of Protestant interest in Jews in the modern era, particularly the precedents and inspirations that have offered a model for evangelical interaction with the Jews. ...
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This chapter recounts the history of Protestant interest in Jews in the modern era, particularly the precedents and inspirations that have offered a model for evangelical interaction with the Jews. Protestant reformers re-evaluated the Christian position toward the Jews, at times following traditional Christian perceptions, and at other times questioning them, renewing their views on Judaism and its position in relation to Christianity. They took a renewed interest in the Jews and in the Hebrew Bible. Some of them, including Martin Luther himself, participated in the Hebraist tradition of the Renaissance and at times developed an appreciation of postbiblical Jewish texts. It was within the ranks of Protestantism, both in the radical left wing of the Reformation and among the mainline thinkers, that a new appreciation developed toward the Jews.Less

The Roots and Early Beginnings of the Evangelical-Jewish Relationship

Yaakov Ariel

Published in print: 2013-06-24

This chapter recounts the history of Protestant interest in Jews in the modern era, particularly the precedents and inspirations that have offered a model for evangelical interaction with the Jews. Protestant reformers re-evaluated the Christian position toward the Jews, at times following traditional Christian perceptions, and at other times questioning them, renewing their views on Judaism and its position in relation to Christianity. They took a renewed interest in the Jews and in the Hebrew Bible. Some of them, including Martin Luther himself, participated in the Hebraist tradition of the Renaissance and at times developed an appreciation of postbiblical Jewish texts. It was within the ranks of Protestantism, both in the radical left wing of the Reformation and among the mainline thinkers, that a new appreciation developed toward the Jews.

This book is a history of Jewish–Christian interactions in early modern Strasbourg, a city from which the Jews had been expelled and banned from residence in the late fourteenth century. It shows ...
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This book is a history of Jewish–Christian interactions in early modern Strasbourg, a city from which the Jews had been expelled and banned from residence in the late fourteenth century. It shows that the Jews who remained in the Alsatian countryside continued to maintain relationships with the city and its residents in the ensuing period. During most of the sixteenth century, Jews entered Strasbourg on a daily basis, where they participated in the city's markets, litigated in its courts, and shared their knowledge of Hebrew and Judaica with Protestant Reformers. By the end of the sixteenth century, Strasbourg became an increasingly orthodox Lutheran city, and city magistrates and religious leaders sought to curtail contact between Jews and Christians. The book unearths the active Jewish participation in early modern society, traces the impact of the Reformation on local Jews, discusses the meaning of tolerance, and describes the shifting boundaries that divided Jewish and Christian communities.Less

Beyond Expulsion : Jews, Christians, and Reformation Strasbourg

Debra Kaplan

Published in print: 2011-07-26

This book is a history of Jewish–Christian interactions in early modern Strasbourg, a city from which the Jews had been expelled and banned from residence in the late fourteenth century. It shows that the Jews who remained in the Alsatian countryside continued to maintain relationships with the city and its residents in the ensuing period. During most of the sixteenth century, Jews entered Strasbourg on a daily basis, where they participated in the city's markets, litigated in its courts, and shared their knowledge of Hebrew and Judaica with Protestant Reformers. By the end of the sixteenth century, Strasbourg became an increasingly orthodox Lutheran city, and city magistrates and religious leaders sought to curtail contact between Jews and Christians. The book unearths the active Jewish participation in early modern society, traces the impact of the Reformation on local Jews, discusses the meaning of tolerance, and describes the shifting boundaries that divided Jewish and Christian communities.

This chapter narrates the circumstances leading to Knox's radical shift from Catholicism to Protestantism. Such a change occurred within the backdrop of Anglo-French conflict, as a series of ...
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This chapter narrates the circumstances leading to Knox's radical shift from Catholicism to Protestantism. Such a change occurred within the backdrop of Anglo-French conflict, as a series of hardships swept across Scotland in the ensuing decade. Knox had suffered considerable physical hardship and illness when sentenced to enforced exile aboard a French galley, though much of his turmoil was internal. On release eighteen months later, Knox remained in exile for safety and served as a Protestant cleric within the Church of England. In common with many sixteenth-century Protestant Reformers, he did not provide a narrative of his conversion to his new faith. Whatever the process, his life altered direction and within a couple of years he had become an open supporter of the Protestant preacher George Wishart, and a year later he faced the call to become a Protestant preacher himself.Less

My first anchor

Jane Dawson

Published in print: 2015-05-26

This chapter narrates the circumstances leading to Knox's radical shift from Catholicism to Protestantism. Such a change occurred within the backdrop of Anglo-French conflict, as a series of hardships swept across Scotland in the ensuing decade. Knox had suffered considerable physical hardship and illness when sentenced to enforced exile aboard a French galley, though much of his turmoil was internal. On release eighteen months later, Knox remained in exile for safety and served as a Protestant cleric within the Church of England. In common with many sixteenth-century Protestant Reformers, he did not provide a narrative of his conversion to his new faith. Whatever the process, his life altered direction and within a couple of years he had become an open supporter of the Protestant preacher George Wishart, and a year later he faced the call to become a Protestant preacher himself.